2008 Cadillac CTS

Comments

#1380 of 1380 Well. . . by cdnpinhead Sep 19, 2007 (2:42 pm)I started wondering if Rockylee had been reincarnated with a new screen name, but apparently not. He's still posting elsewhere these days, but doesn't want to participate here or in the Entry-Level board, now that there actually is an '08 CTS. Strange, given his previous history.

I'd thought some of the recent cheerleading might have been him. Guess again. ============================================================

When you're wrong you're wrong. It's a simple as that.

Other people may back down in the face of untruthfulness so as to avoid being painted as a "fanboy" or as a "rockylee" (whatever that is); but that is irrelevant to me.All of that strikes me as rather immature; and I suppose the people who are discussing this car on Edmunds would be old enough to buy one.

All substantial criticisms of the car will stand up to the facts.

All others will wither away or hide behind pejorative titles and name-calling. I have no time for that.

Not any more than somebody spreading demonstrable falsehoods (compulsively or not) about it, would be a "BMW agent".Occam's Razor precludes both, and rather suggests simpler motivations. There isn't even any evidence that "agents" exist.

I'm the proud owner of one of the first vehicles off the truck at my local dealer but may be paying the price for jumping the gun. I'm still overwhelmingly happy with the car but am already getting to know the service manager a bit too well.

Are any of you new owners out there experiencing the following or other problems?

* Excessive wind noise through the sunroof (needs tightening). I'm one of the few who actually purposely bought this car with a sunroof - the flimsy retractable semi-shade doesn't bother me at all.* Oil pressure fluctuates rapidly between 35 and top of 80 during normal driving. Calling dealer in the morning as this one scares me a bit.* Steering wheel shakes like a leaf at 70+ (likely a front wheel balance issue)* Minor fit issue with Rt front bumper cover and Rt rear of rocker applique. Lt side of car is perfect!

Just got the price for bluetooth adder $500 seems kinda steep for something they should have included. I understand this is an ALPINE unit and the sell the device themselves for $250 but that means you have to install the unit and locate the mic. which could be a real pain. Also has anyone herd anything about the wood shift nob and steering wheel.

No- I have not had any of the issues mentioned. However, when I picked up the vehicle (3 weeks ago the day after it was delivered to the dealership) the XM antenna wire had been pinched so it had to be replaced. Regarding the lack of bluetooth, I thought it would be a big issue but I dug out my old BT headset and have no complaints.

Absolutely love the car.....anxious to see how it will do in the snow (AWD), particularly with the seemingly low front bumper. I've driven an SUV for years and may be a bit spoiled.

abqhudson - it's unfortunately not unique to GM to hold out on "essentials" like that. Check out Audi and their $350 for rear side-airbags on ALL of their models! Heck, you can't even get a garage-transmitter on a top of the line A6 (50,000+) w/o getting a ~$2,000 technology package. Or how about having to pay almost two grand on BMW's just so you can get folding rear seats? It's the way the game is played

". . .how about having to pay almost two grand on BMW's just so you can get folding rear seats?"

Well, I'm not sure which BMWs you've been optioning out, but your comment was enough to send me to the "Build Your BMW" section of their website, just to verify what I thought was true. Sure enough, fold-down rear seats are still $475 (on the 3-series) and can be chosen independently of any other option or package.

Since I hadn't priced anything out for six months or more, I thought the situation might have changed since I last did it. Nope, so I guess I'm confused by your comment.

rspruitt - You have a point about the low front bumper - looks good and makes the front end look tough but, parking curbs and minor snow piles this winter could be a problem. There was an earlier post indicating the rails in a car wash rubbed! Who wants to test that theory?Dealer indicated the rapid movement of the oil pressure gauge was normal, including the range of 35 idle to topping out the gauge at 80 when accelerating.

I had inherriited an '05 STS. Fully loaded, including nav, bluetooth, etc.

The car had numerous problems, not the least of which was its practically worthless bluetooth phone capability.

Doing some research, after getting stonewalled by my 3 Caddy dealers regarding the "non-funtional" blue tooth capability (trying at least a half dozen different phones), GM and Cadillac, in particular, does not adhere to blue tooth standards. Who knows the reasons, but GM decided to do it "their way" when it came to blue tooth features. I suspect cost and licnesing fees had something to do with it.

What was clear in my research was the fact that Cadillac included bluetooth capabilities as a "check mark" feature item...when compared to other vehicles in its class. In typical GM fashion, no thought was given to its actual functionality (meaning it didn't work at all).

There were many other issues with the car. GM fought me tooth and nail, but they eventually bought it back under the "lemon law".

And yes....bluetooth capability will be a deal breaker for many, given how some of the more mundane cars out there offer this feature (and it works). And no, On-Star isn't a credible alternative (given its added cost and the need for yet another phone #).

The STS isn't the firs car that contained a Bluetooth option that was completely worthless. I have a friend and a family member that each own G35's and neither are able to use their Bluetooth to hold a conversation. Both owners have the same complaint. They can hear the other party but the other party can't hear them. This inevitably leads to the other party asking them to be taken off Bluetooth becasue the drivers voice is too muffled to understand.

Cadillac DTS and STS will be nixed has officially been confirmed in an interview with the brand's general manager, Jim Taylor. Sales of both models are down for the year, and Taylor admits that one premium-luxury sedan will be developed to compete in the segment.

I'm happy to hear that GM has finally made this decision. Truthfully I think the handwriting was on the wall some time ago but I think that there were some in GM that were hedging their bets with keeping the DTS around in some way shape or form. The Deville/DTS has been around for nearly 60 years and its hard to let go a product that historically has been very good to you in terms of sales. But that product no longer fits into the future of where Cadillac needs to be.

The last great customer base of the Deville/DTS was the Greatest Generation. The Baby Boomers long since moved onto other kinds of vehicles, mostly European imports and Lexus (including my mother). Cadillac has been trying to make strides to remake their product line and image, but this product needs to be relegated to the past to give product managers the freedom to go to the next step.

Has anyone heard about the PDW option package. While trying to place my order, (I requested everything except the moon roof, and AWD) they couldn't get the order to run as such. After a week of trying they called Cadillac. Cadillac told them that they had to select to PDW option (it supposedly became available 9/22/07) which includes the performance package (PDR) alone with Y40 lux level 1, & Y41 lux level 2. To date, it still hasn't worked, but I guess they know what they are talking about.

I wonder how the strike will effect the orders for new Cadillacs. The news talked about Pontiac G6 prodution, but mention no others.

knotem - Thanks. I didn't know it was not available with the nav system That may be the problem with the order, they are trying to include the nav system with the PDW, and it keeps defaulting to the Premium Lux Collection Package.

This will make the total a little less as well. I get to pocket about 3K or so.

&#147;Early 2009 Models&#148;Is that including an early 09 CTS with a fix for the existing sunroof cover, or a conventional sunroof that covers the sun 100%, when it&#146;s not need it, which will meet loyal Cadillac customer&#146;s expectation?

I have read at least 5 CTS reviews and no one has mentioned the "showstopping" sunshade issue. MT mentioned that the Mini has a similar sunshade in the current issue. If this issue is so major I find it interesting that no one has complained about it in a review.

nobody charges more for features that should be standard than Euro brands. You cannot seriously think that GM is a worse offender when it comes to charging customers for things that should be included.

IF you and others dont like the car I would think its time to go and get a BMW or LExus and call it a day. This car is obviously not perfect and most cars are not. If you are not a fan and are bothered by the fact that not everyone shares your opinion that the car is a disappointment then I see no reason to comment on the car any further. There are cars on the market with BT, regular sunshades and whatever other features you demand.

The point I was trying to make was that the poster in question hyped the revised CTS to an extent that went well beyond perfection -- this thing was the second coming. He was called on it at the time, but the response was, . . . "just wait."

Well, we did, and here we are.

I think the CTS is an improved vehicle, and it wasn't that bad to begin with, assuming you're willing to go along with how it looks. It exists now, and the comparisons, done by actual people who have driven it and measured it in a number of ways, vs. a number of other cars, have begun. The "talk is cheap" phase of this whole exercise is over.

I'm sure many people will sign up to own/lease the new CTS. Others won't. We should be able to agree on that as well.